Choose Your Own Heartache
by Like A Dove
Summary: Korra is a new girl in a new town, and it looks like there are tons of new people for her to meet. Readers choose who Korra ends up with. Vote in the reviews. A love interest is eliminated in each new chapter.
1. one

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

Okay, so you're probably wondering what the hell this story is supposed to be. Basically, I wanted to write a Choose Your Own Adventure story, except gear it towards love interests, specifically Korra's love interests. The idea of this story is to put its fate into your, the reader's, hands. I've always been meticulous about how my stories are going to go, but I've been wanting to try something new, hence one of the reasons why I'm doing this. Another is because I think it could turn out uproariously funny and melodramatic, if I play it right

I'm not promising that this story is going to be the greatest fanfiction that you'll ever read. In fact, I guarantee that it won't. I can't promise that there won't be a shit ton of clichés, because there probably will. I definitely can't promise that the person you most prefer Korra with will win. But I can promise that you're going to have fun while reading this. So let's get this party started.

* * *

Korra pulled into the student parking lot before killing the engine to her car and leaning back in her seat, watching as her new classmates darted through the other parked cars and into the school building.

Today was her first day at her new school, and already she was nervous.

"You are awesome," Korra said out loud to herself, hands still gripping the steering wheel. "You don't have anything to worry about. This semester is going to be great."

With a final nod to herself, Korra quickly sucked in a deep breath and climbed out of her car. She grabbed her backpack out of the back seat and threw it over her shoulder before shoving her car keys into her pocket.

Then she marched into her new school with her head held high, ponytail swinging behind her.

* * *

She lasted five minutes before she managed to bring unwanted attention to herself.

She had been innocently walking down the hall, discreetly searching for her locker and trying her hardest to remember the layout of the school by heart. She'd rather die then pull out the school map and try to navigate around while holding it in front of her face. She'd rather _not_ have everyone know that she was a new kid.

That was when someone barreled right into her, knocking her to the ground. Her backpack flew off her shoulder and went skidding a couple of feet down the hallway.

Gritting her teeth, Korra got to her feet and whirled around, prepared to chew out the idiot that had managed to make her look stupid within her first five minutes of her first day.

Her angry words died on her tongue when she spotted who was in front of her.

The other girl looked completely and utterly embarrassed. There was already a blush staining her pretty, pale cheeks. "I'm sorry!" she spluttered. She stepped into the hallway traffic to retrieve Korra's backpack. "I didn't see you. I was trying to get to class and I guess I might have been running—"

"It's okay," Korra interrupted, accepting her backpack with a shrug. "No harm done."

So much for cussing her out.

The other girl looked relieved. "That's good." She narrowed her vibrant green eyes and tilted her head to the side, surveying Korra. "Hey, are you new? I know everyone here, but I've never seen you before."

Korra forced herself not to sigh. "Yeah. First day."

The other girl looked way too excited. "That's awesome!" She stuck out her hand. "I'm Asami. Asami Sato."

"Korra." Korra shook Asami's hand and then took a step back, suddenly eager to get to class. People were starting to stop and stare in the middle of the hallway. Korra wondered if she'd accidentally been run over by the prom queen, or something.

"Where are you headed?" Asami asked, looking bright and enthusiastic to help.

"Room 207," Korra mumbled. She already felt silly standing next to this girl. Asami was decked out in what could only be high fashion, designer clothes. Not that Korra would know. She'd rather read _Entertainment Weekly_ then _Teen Vogue_. Considering that Korra was just wearing her normal attire—skinny jeans, sneakers, and a hoodie—she was somewhat surprised that Asami was looking at her as an equal and not down her nose.

"I had a class in there last year," Asami said with a smile. "I'll take you there."

"Thank you." Korra followed Asami, if anything to just be polite. Asami chatted to her the whole time. The conversation actually turned out to be interesting. Apparently Asami was captain of the volleyball team and drove race cars on the side.

"I mean, I won't ever make it to NASCAR, or anything," the model-esque girl said with a shrug. "But they say that I'm good."

Korra blinked at her, slightly stunned. "That's…kind of awesome. I'm a terrible driver."

Asami laughed at her. "Really?"

"Yep. A week after I got my license I totaled my car."

Asami's eyes widened in shock. "Shut up."

"Not kidding."

The conversation then turned to driving and accidents and how many speeding tickets Asami had received so far in her lifetime (the answer was astonishing). And then they reached room 207.

"Here you are." Asami patted Korra's shoulder in a friendly way. "I'll text you later. Maybe we'll have a class together!" And then she darted off, leaving Korra standing awkwardly in the open door frame.

* * *

Korra and Asami did end up having a class together—Chemistry, better known as Korra's worst subject. Apparently Asami wasn't too great at it either.

Both girls sat next to each other toward the back of the classroom, both scribbling down everything that was written on the whiteboard. Their teacher, Mr. Sho, had a boring voice and droned on and on about memorizing the periodic table as soon as possible.

Asami groaned in the seat next to Korra. "I already hate this class," she mumbled under her breath, causing Korra to smile. "It's going to be so hard, getting an A."

"I'm just going to aim for a C," Korra said, putting her Chemistry textbook and notebook back into her backpack.

Asami looked a little jealous. "I have to get straight A's for my dad."

And with that the bell rang. Both girls parted ways at the door, each promising to find the other at lunch.

* * *

The rest of the school day passed by uneventfully, which was good.

Because as Korra approached the football field after the final bell rang, she knew that what she was about to do was going to give her all the unwanted attention she could ever hope to have.

All of the other guys on the field, the ones who were on the team or the ones who were trying out, whichever, immediately turned to stare at her.

"Cheerleading tryouts are _that_ way," one guy said, jerking his finger to his left.

"Maybe she's just here to be our _personal_ cheerleader!"

Then there were a couple of cat calls and suggestive comments about what Korra could be wearing while she cheered on the guys, which was, of course, nothing.

"You fucking wish," Korra snapped out, dropping her bag to the ground and crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm here to try out for the football team."

Pretty much all of the guys standing around her burst out laughing, which just made Korra want to prove that she could be on the team all the more.

One boy stepped forward. He was tall and lean, maybe a receiver, but by the way all the other guys stood a little straighter around him, he was probably the quarterback.

"This school has a powderpuff football team," he said softly. "I think you'd be better off if you joined that instead. They'd probably love to have you."

Huffing, Korra shook her head. "I don't _want_ to join the powerpuff team," she snapped. "I like football, I'm good at playing football, so I'm going to join the boy's football team, got it?"

Mr. Quarterback narrowed his golden eyes. "Listen, we've never had a girl on our team. Girls aren't even allowed on our team, okay? It's too dangerous for you."

Korra stepped as close to the guy as she could. She expected him to step back, or look at her like he was uncomfortable, but instead he glared down at her reproachfully. Korra returned his glare with all the venom she could muster. "Is there an actual rulebook that says that girls aren't allowed in your football boy's club, or have years of drilled-into-your-thick-skull _sexism_ made you _think_ that girls aren't allowed in your football boy's club?"

His nostrils flared with anger, but before he could say anything, another guys walked up to the both of them. He was a fairly muscular dude, but he had a kind face and green eyes that reminded Korra of Asami. She felt herself relax a little.

The bigger guy put his hand on the golden eyed boy's shoulder. "Mako, maybe we should let her try out. I mean, what harm could it do? Just a thought."

Mr. Quarterback, Mako, shrugged the green eyed boy's hand off his shoulder, never taking his glare off of Korra. "Shut up, Bolin." He pushed against her shoulder, probably hoping to send her off the field, but Korra didn't budge.

"You'll just hurt yourself," Mako snapped, irritated.

Korra smirked. "Please. My biceps are bigger than yours."

A chorus of 'oooooooooo's' erupted around them and, with a flip of her ponytail, Korra lined up with the other boys that were trying out.

A couple of minutes later the coach walked out onto the field. Korra had expected a big, burly, bald man who liked to shout and chew tobacco.

This man was bald, but that was about it. He was tall and lean, with cool tattoos, a beard and calm grey eyes. But when those eyes landed on Korra they widened with concern.

"Excuse me, miss, but what are you doing here?"

Korra forced herself to look the coach right in the eye. "I'm here to try out for the football team, sir."

"Coach Tenzin," Mako piped up from where he was standing with the rest of the team. "I've already asked her to go, but she won't leave."

"Is that so?" Coach Tenzin surveyed Korra with a curious expression before shaking his head. "Young lady, I'm going to have to ask you to go home. This sport is too dangerous for a girl."

Furious, Korra rapidly shook her head. "At least let me prove to you that I would be a good asset for this team." She turned her head and glared at every single boy standing around her. "Or are you all too chickenshit to get your ass handed to you by a girl?"

"Let her try out!" someone shouted from the sidelines.

Korra saw Mako's jaw clench. "Get the hell out of here, Tahno!"

Korra turned her head to see who Mako was addressing. Another boy, Tahno, was sitting in the bleachers. He didn't appear to be alone; he'd brought what looked to be a group of his buddies with him.

Tahno shrugged calmly from where he was sitting. "Don't see what's so wrong with watching the fresh meat try out for my rival school's football team." His light eyes settled on Korra. "And what an interesting tryout it's turned out to be."

Mako began to march towards the bleachers, but stopped in his tracks at Tenzin's sharp look. The coach turned his attention back to Korra. "You can try out, but don't come crying to me if you get hurt."

Korra gave him a genuine smile and nodded.

An hour later she was easily the most hated person on the football field. She ran faster than everyone, caught every ball that was thrown at her, and never got tackled because all of the boys were too scared to tackle a girl. By the end of the afternoon she was the best player out on the field by far.

She, along with the rest of the boys, lined up in front of Tenzin. She was sweaty, out of breath, and there were grass stains all over her sweatpants, but she didn't care. It felt good to beat everyone else.

Coach Tenzin settled his gaze onto her. "I'll have to talk to Principal Beifong and make sure that this is acceptable, but for now, you're on the team."

All the other boys groaned, but Korra shook Tenzin's hand and gave him a huge grin. "You won't regret it, sir!"

She turned and sprinted off the field toward the locker rooms and a moment later the big guy, Bolin, caught up with her.

"You were awesome," he exclaimed, throwing his hands out in front of him. "I didn't think a girl could ever play like that," he breathed, matching her stride for stride.

She smiled at him. "Thanks. It was nothing."

A shadow blocked her path. She looked up to see Tahno and his crew standing in front of her. Bolin grabbed her elbow and started to gently tug her in the other direction, whispering, "Not worth it!" under his breath.

But Korra pulled her elbow out of his grasp and stared Tahno down. "What do you want?" she said, trying to sound bored.

The other boy smirked. He was wearing eyeliner, _eyeliner_ for god's sake. "Just wanted to congratulate you on making the team."

Korra frowned. "I don't need you coming over here and talking to me. Get out of my face."

He shook his head, gaze sweeping over her form. "I wasn't done. See, you mentioned 'coming', and I figured me and you could get together one evening and do some of that."

Korra punched him in the face before anyone else could even move. Her blow knocked Tahno a few steps back and flash of irritation crossed over his face as he rubbed his chin. "Okay," he dropped his hand and looked down at her. "I'll see you on the field then, _sweetheart_." He signaled his friends and then all of them turned around and walked away.

"Bring it!" Korra shouted after him, hands balling into fists at her sides. She watched them disappear around the bleachers. Grumbling, she turned back to Bolin, who was staring at her with wide, appreciative eyes.

"Marry me?" he croaked out.

* * *

She was ten minutes late to her very first job interview. This would not be a good way to round out what had been a decent first day in her new town.

She barreled through the front door of the Jasmine Dragon, her frizzy ponytail flying behind her. She'd taken a shower after tryouts and had made an attempt to style her long, brown hair, but to no avail. At least her outfit was professional looking.

"Are you Korra?" the man behind the counter asked. Korra turned her head in his direction, mouth open, preparing to apologize, but she stopped short and stared stupidly.

The guy behind the counter was_ hot_. He was tall and broad shouldered, with raven hair and golden eyes. Sort of like Mako, but at the same time not like Mako at all.

Korra cleared her throat and nodded. The guy behind the counter sighed. "You're late." Then he waved her toward a door that read _Employees Only_.

Once behind the door, the man lead her to a desk and gestured for her to sit down.

"So," he began, taking his own chair and rummaging through some paperwork littering the desk. "You're Korra. I'm Iroh." He glanced up at her, not offering his hand. "You're ten minutes late for an interview, but I'm going to let that slide." He let the papers fall back on top of his desk. "You're…seventeen, right?"

"I'll be eighteen in two months!" Korra pointed out with way too much enthusiasm.

Iroh blinked. "Right. Well, I really need someone to help out during the evenings, you know, dinner rush and all. Do you have any experience waitressing?"

Korra shook her head. "This would be my first job."

Iroh's shoulders slumped a bit with disappointment.

"But I'm willing to learn!" Korra piped up. "And I like people. I had a lot of friends in my old town."

That reminded her that she _really_ needed to text back Howl. But that'd have to wait until later.

Iroh ran his hand through his dark hair, tousling it slightly. Korra nearly melted into her chair. He couldn't be older than twenty three, maybe twenty four. That was only what, a five or six year age difference? Perfectly doable.

"Listen, Korra, you seem like a nice person but—"

"Mr. Iroh—"

"It's just Iroh."

"You won't regret hiring me, I promise. I'm a really great worker and I'm a determined person. I just made the boy's football team at school today, actually."

Iroh blinked at her in astonishment. "Really?"

Korra nodded eagerly. "Really!"

Iroh bit his lower lip and glanced around his office, clearly having an internal debate. Finally, he threw his hand up in the air and shook his head. "Fuck it. My grandfather used to tell me that people can always surprise you. So, you're hired."

A grin split across Korra's face. "Thank you, Iroh! I'll be the best employee that you've ever had!"

Before Iroh could say anything there was a loud crash from the kitchen. Korra's new boss stood up quickly. "Okay, Korra, time for you to meet our cook." Before they stepped out of the office, Iroh put a warm hand onto her shoulder. "Just, don't stare at his face, okay? He hates that."

"Oh, uh, sure." Korra followed Iroh into the kitchens and she had to hold back a gasp when she spotted the cook. He had curly black hair and what would've been considered a handsome face, if there hadn't been a scar slashed across it.

"Korra, this is our cook, Amon."

* * *

**A/N:**

I tried to introduce, or at least name drop, all of Korra's potential love interests.

**A Few Simple Voting Rules**

—I won't be accepting anonymous votes, so if you're going to try and be sneaky and vote more than once that way, it's not going to work. However, if you would like to review the actual story anonymously, that's fine. Just, you know, don't be a dick. I'm sensitive.

—You can only vote for one person. If you're indecisive like me, then I do apologize.

—If for whatever reason you would like to keep your vote private, you may message me your vote and I'll count it.

A reminder of Korra's love interests:

Asami

Mako

Bolin

Tahno

Tenzin

Lin (people do ship this, so I'm including)

Howl

Iroh

Amon

Whoever gets the least amount of votes will be eliminated for the next chapter and will no longer be a potential love interest for our dear Korra. I will be implementing a Writer's Save (think American Idol), for one upcoming chapter, but we can discuss this later since I don't think it matters just yet.

This is seriously for shits and giggles, and if not enough people participate then I'll probably take this down. But I figured I'd take a chance and post it.

VOTE. :D


	2. two

**A/N:**

First off, thank you everyone for voting in the last chapter! I got a great response, which I wasn't expecting. I've tweaked the rules a little bit, but we'll talk about that after the chapter.

Two characters got eliminated in this round! Read on to find out who!

* * *

The engine was dead.

Fumbling with her keys, Korra tried once again to get her car to start with no avail. She glanced at the clock on her phone. If she didn't leave _right now_ then she was going to be late for school. And Korra really didn't need to be late for school. She had to look good at all times if she was going to be allowed to stay on the football team.

Groaning, Korra slammed her head onto the steering wheel in frustration. Her parents were already at work and she knew for a fact that the school bus had already left. She quickly scrolled through the list of contacts on her phone and selected a number.

Asami answered on the second ring_. "Class starts in twenty minutes, you know."_

"I'm aware," Korra grumbled. "My car won't start."

There was silence at the other end for a long moment. _"Do you need a ride?"_

Korra winced. Asami was cool, but Korra still felt like she didn't know the girl all that well. She'd only been at school for a week. "I hate to ask—"

"_Hey, it's no problem! You'll just owe me one. You live off Peters Creek, right?"_

Korra sagged a bit in relief. "Yep." She quickly recited her address for the other girl and then hung up the phone.

Five minutes later Korra nearly fell over at what pulled into her driveway. It was a sleek, red BMW convertible and while Korra didn't know all that much about cars, she was pretty sure that this particular vehicle was top of the line in its class.

Her mouth was still hanging open in astonishment when Asami rolled down the window to the passenger's side and yelled, "You coming?"

Korra quickly shook off her shock and scrambled into the car, making sure to be careful not to get any fingerprints on its shiny exterior. Asami roared out of the driveway and zoomed down the street like a bat out of hell. Korra found herself clutching the edges of her seat.

"This is, uh, a nice ride," she managed, praying to herself that Asami wouldn't get pulled over for speeding. She was doing twenty over the speed limit at the very least.

Korra glanced over at Asami and saw that the other girl was watching her out of the corner of her green eye. "You look cute today," she complimented sweetly. Korra felt herself flush.

"I just sort of put on what was clean."

Asami giggled at that. "I like your style, Korra. It's like, indie-casual, you know?"

Korra's lips curled into a smile. "Thanks. So, I wanted your opinion on something. I was thinking about dyeing my hair—Uh, you know you just ran that red light?"

Asami pulled her gaze away from the road in order to blink at Korra innocently. "Just barely! The light turned red as I drove under it."

Korra pressed her lips together in order to keep herself from laughing in terror. "Ah, no. I'm pretty sure you just flat out ran that red light."

And then Asami gasped in excitement. "Hey! You should come to the racetrack with me sometime!"

"I think I'd pee my pants."

"Then I'll bring a change of underwear for you," Asami said with a smirk.

"Or I could just go commando," Korra joked as they pulled into the school parking lot.

Asami winked at her. "Even better, if you ask me." She zipped into an empty parking spot and climbed out of her car, grabbing her designer purse along the way.

Korra got out too, hauling her backpack and gym pack over her shoulders and stretching out her legs. "Thanks so much for the ride," she with sincerity.

Asami shrugged nonchalantly. "It was seriously no big deal. If you ever need a ride again, just give me a buzz. I don't mind picking you up. See you in Chemistry?" Her bright eyes were hopeful.

Korra nodded. "See you." She waved and then both girls parted ways.

* * *

She'd just taken a hard tackle to the ground. Wincing, Korra pulled herself up and limped off to the side lines. She'd still managed to run forty yards before she'd been yanked down by one of her teammates.

She was going to have a nasty bruise on the side of her leg by this evening, but in Korra's opinion it was worth it.

Most of the boys parted for her wordlessly, suspicion still in their eyes. The majority of them wouldn't talk to Korra, although she could tell that they were beginning to warm up to her. She hoped that after she proved herself in their first game that they'd all come around. She wasn't asking for all of them to be her best friend; she just wanted them to respect her.

Bolin jogged up to her side, concern in his eyes. "Hey, are you all right?"

Korra gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, Bo. Taking hits is part of the game."

Bolin shook his head, but smiled back at her anyway. He gently patted her shoulder. "I just…" he bit his bottom lip and trailed off. "I don't want to see you get hurt. You're pretty awesome. It'd suck if you got squished."

Laughing, Korra shoved Bolin's shoulder playfully. "It's the guys on the other teams that you need to be worried about. They're the ones that are going to get destroyed." She pounded her right fist into her left palm for emphasis.

Bolin bumped his hip against hers and Korra noticed that a couple of their teammates were watching them curiously. She leaned against him, savoring the physical contact.

That's when she noticed a couple of kids sitting in the bleachers. "Who are they?" she asked, pointing them out with her finger.

Bolin squinted his eyes against the bright sun. "Those are Coach Tenzin's kids. Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo."

"Huh. I didn't know that Coach had kids."

Bolin nodded. "Yep. He and his wife are expecting their forth, actually. We're all hoping it doesn't turn out like the third one, the boy. That little kid is from Satan or _something_—"

"All right, all right, line up!" Tenzin shouted from the middle of the field. Immediately all the boys and Korra quickly moved to form a line.

Someone knocked into Korra's shoulder roughly, causing her to stumble forward a couple of steps. Snarling, Korra turned around to yell at whoever had bumped her, but before she could even open her mouth Mako beat her to it.

"Hey," the quarterback snapped. "Watch it!"

"What's your problem?" Korra snapped back, poking a finger into Mako's shoulder.

The other boy narrowed his golden eyes at her. "My problem, cheerleader, is that you can't seem to watch where you're fucking going. For your information, a sense of balance and direction is needed on the field."

Korra tilted her head to the side and frowned in mocking concern. "Gee, Mako, your mood today seems to be even _worse_ than normal. Do you need to borrow a tampon?"

Laughter broke out around them and Mako's eyes lit up with anger, but before he could speak Bolin quickly stepped between them. "Okay. We've established that Mako is on the rag, now let's pay attention to the Coach?"

When Korra whipped around she saw Tenzin watching them with a cool, gray haired woman by his side.

"What an interesting team you have this year, Tenzin," the woman said. Korra could hear the tone of command in this woman's voice. Her shoulders straightened out on their own accord.

The woman's gaze narrowed in on Korra. "Girl, I'd like to speak with you. Now."

Gulping, Korra stepped out of line and walked over to the woman.

"My name is Lin Beifong, and I'm the principal of this school." The woman frowned deeply and Korra felt her heart sink into her stomach. This was it. She was going to be kicked off the team. It was one thing when her teammates teased her, or when Tenzin was extra hard on her, because she could always retaliate. But if the principal of the school didn't want her on the team, then she was doomed.

She kicked at the ground and tried not to let her deflation register on her face. "It's nice to meet you," Korra mumbled.

Beifong, however, said, "How's your leg?"

Korra snapped her head up and stared wide eyed at the principal. "Er, it's okay. It'll bruise but it's nothing that I can't handle.

Beifong nodded slowly. "I saw you get tackled. Tenzin was a little worried, but I thought that you took it well."

Korra's heart sped up in anticipation.

"I have to admit, I had my doubts," Beifong continued. "You're the only girl to ever join the football team in this town, and I wasn't looking forward to the backlash the public would've given me if I had refused you. But Tenzin told me that you've been performing well in practices and that you have a determined attitude, so I've decided to let you stay on the team—for now." Beifong placed her arms behind her back and furrowed her eyebrows at Korra. "Don't mess this up, Korra. Don't make us look stupid for letting you play, do you understand?"

Korra nodded enthusiastically, resisting the urge to throw her arms around this woman's neck in happiness. "I promise that you won't regret this! I'll be the best football player that this town has—"

Beifong waved her hand and silenced her. "That's nice. Prove it out on the field. Now go take a shower. You stink."

Korra shut her mouth and pressed her lips together, all the while jigging in place. From across the field she spotted Bolin giving her two thumbs up and she returned the gesture with a grin.

* * *

The shower was hot and it felt amazing.

Korra had been right about her leg, it was already bruising. The area across the top of right thigh was tender and she winced a couple of times as she washed off. It was going to be blue and purple by tomorrow morning. But, in a way, it was sort of a badge of honor. It was proof that she could handle herself, and it was also proof that all the boys were starting to look on her as a teammate and not just a girl.

She turned the water off and pulled the shower curtain open before wringing out her hair. The girl's locker room was usually empty during this time of day, which meant that Korra had the whole place to herself. She definitely wasn't complaining about that.

However, her heart leapt into her throat when she noticed that her clean clothes and her towel were both missing.

Her hands curled into fists and Korra let out a scream of frustration. She knew _exactly _who'd done it. She whirled around and ripped the shower curtain off of the shower rod. The curtain was white and opaque and as Korra wrapped it around her body she realized that even though she was technically covered up, you could still see everything.

She set her jaw in determination and marched out of the girl's locker room, across the hall, and into the boy's locker room. Steam hit her in the face as she walked in. Complete silence descended over the room and a few of the boys let out wolf whistles.

Scowling, Korra scanned the room until she saw him. She pulled the shower curtain tighter around her body and then stalked right up to him, cheeks flush with fury.

"You _asshole_! I know you stole my clothes!"

Mako's back was turned to her as he pulled shoes out of a locker. He was shirtless with nothing but a pair of shorts on, but Korra was too furious to appreciate the view.

His bare shoulders stiffened in anger. "Okay, just because you're on the boy's team doesn't mean you can just invite yourself in here whenever you…whoa."

He'd turned around mid-sentence with an irritated expression. But when he saw her his face went blank and his eyes instantly dropped to her barely hidden breasts.

Blushing profusely, Korra crossed one arm over her chest in order to cover the essential bits. "You stole my clothes, you dick!"

Mako didn't seem to hear her. He stared for another long moment before he came back to himself. His gaze flicked up to her face and he looked stunned, like a deer caught in headlights. "What?"

Korra grit her teeth, but then, with growing dread, she realized that you could hear a pin drop in the room. All of the boys were staring at her, and they weren't looking at her face.

Korra drew the curtain even closer around her body and tried to fight back the tears of humiliation that pricked at her eyes.

Then a jacket was draped across her shoulders and Bolin appeared by her side. "Someone stole Korra's clothes, Mako," he said seriously. He gave Korra a reassuring smile and Korra was grateful that his eyes didn't scan over the rest of her body.

The quarterback still looked stupefied, but he managed to tear his gaze off of Korra long enough to look around the room. "Right."

"Nice ass!" someone called out from the back.

Korra sniffed and ducked her head. She absolutely refused to look weak in front of all these boys, but since she was basically naked, coupled with the fact that everyone was watching her, it wasn't easy.

Mako glanced back at her face. His expression darkened and he stepped around Korra. "Who the hell did it?"

A couple of sophomore boys simpered from where they were standing off to the right. Mako walked up to them and held out his hands expectantly. One of the sophomores sheepishly handed over Korra's clothes.

"You both will stay an hour late running laps after Monday's practice. Congratulations. Oh, and you can bet that Coach will hear about this."

The smiles melted off the sophomores' faces. Mako turned and walked back to Korra, his face and neck flushing red when he spotted her hot pink sports bra. "Hear," he muttered, dumping her clothes into the arm she wasn't using to hold up the curtain.

"Thanks," she said earnestly before turning around and heading toward the door. On her way out she viciously elbowed one of the sophomore's in the ribs. No one said anything. In fact, a couple of her teammates actually smiled at her.

* * *

"_Your teammates are assholes."_

Korra nodded from where she was sitting on her bed, even though Howl couldn't see it. "Most of them, yeah. They just can't deal with the fact that I'm a girl."

"_Well, at least after this afternoon no one will be able to deny that you're a hot girl."_

Korra laughed and scratched her dog, Naga, behind the ears. "I guess so. Although I would've rather _not _stripped for the entire football team. I was saving it for when we took State," she joked.

Howl chuckled on the other line. _"I miss you. It's not the same around here without you."_

"I miss you too."

* * *

"Someone stiffed me."

It was Saturday, around 8pm, and the dinner rush was in full swing. Korra's bangs were sticking to her forehead and all she wanted to do was get off of her feet.

Iroh looked up from where he was sitting at his desk. He gave her a look of sympathy. "It happens." He stood up and stretched his arms over his head, allowing Korra a brief moment to drool over his biceps. He tilted his head back and sighed. "Well, my break is over." He looked at the door, plastered a friendly smile on his face, and then walked out onto the floor.

Korra followed with aching feet, but she was determined not to whine in front of Iroh. So far he'd been super nice to her throughout her training, although occasionally he called her "kid", which was growing increasingly annoying.

As she made her way back to her section she froze, a deep frown crossing her face.

Tahno and a couple of his stupid friends were sitting at a table, waiting for her to come and take their order.

When Tahno spotted her he gave a casual wave and winked.

Gritting her teeth, Korra pulled out the small notepad that she wrote orders on and clicked her pen. She walked up to their table and forced herself to smile. "Hello, I'm Korra and I'm going to be—"

"We know who you are, sweetheart," Tahno interrupted. He smirked up at her, eyes running over her form. "You don't seem to be beaten up too badly. I'm guessing practices must be treating you well?"

Korra took a deep breath in order to calm herself. "They're going well enough."

"I have to admit," Tahno said casually, "I can't wait to compete against you on the field. Granted, it won't be much of a victory, since beating your team shouldn't be too hard—"

"Can you just tell me what you want?" Korra pleaded. She was so tried that she didn't care if she looked pathetic in front of her rival.

Tahno's expression cooled a little. "Bad night?"

She shrugged one shoulder, refusing to answer.

Tahno's smirk faded into an actual smile. "We'll have a pot of jasmine tea and a plate of those little cake thingys."

Korra nodded, scribbled down the order, and walked away, not bothering to glance back at him over her shoulder.

She walked back into the kitchen and spotted Amon with a cigarette dangling from between his lips.

"Hey, um, I don't think you can smoke—"

She hushed up at the look that Amon sent her. She stood there and waited as he prepared a pot of jasmine tea, all the while trying very hard not to glance at his scar.

Amon had barely spoken two words to her since she's started working at the Jasmine Dragon. This type of behavior didn't seem unusual for a guy like him, but for some reason it bothered Korra.

A couple of minutes later she was dropping the teapot off at Tahno's table and he, blessedly, didn't have a derogatory comment to offer.

However, moments later, right as she stepped up to his table in order to drop off his plate of tea cakes, she spotted the looks his friends were giving him. It looked as if they were egging him on. As she turned around and started to walk away, he slapped her ass.

She squeaked so loudly that half of the restaurant turned and stared at her.

Furious and embarrassed, Korra turned around, grabbed Tahno's nearly full cup of tea, and dumped the scolding liquid into his lap. He yelped in pain, but Korra had already fled to the office before he could so much as curse at her.

Iroh looked up at her expectantly as she walked in.

"I just dumped tea on someone," she admitted, hands wringing in nervousness.

He blinked up at her for a moment before saying with eerie calm, "Why did you do that?"

"He smacked my ass."

Iroh's whole expression changed. He stood up swiftly and glared over Korra's shoulder at the door. "Are you kidding me? Move, Korra. I'll deal with this."

"It's okay," Korra said, trying to reassure her boss. He looked like he was ready to murder. "I already got him back."

Iroh turned his head in her direction and caught her eye. "What did you do?"

Korra forced herself not to roll her eyes. "I poured tea on him!"

"Oh, right." He fidgeted on his feet and ran a hand through his dark hair. "Come on," he finally said. "We've got to deal with this."

But when they walked out, Tahno and his group of friends were already gone. On the table was a $10 tip.

* * *

**A/N #2:**

The characters eliminated in this chapter were: **Tenzin **and** Lin**. Neither of those characters received any votes, so I axed them.

It's safe to say that Iroh dominated the votes for the last chapter. If you'd like to see another character have their chance at our lovely Korra then make sure to vote!

**A Few Simple Voting Rules**

—No anonymous votes! I still got a bunch of anonymous votes for the last chapter. Once again, if you vote anonymously then your vote will not be accepted!

—You can only vote for one person. If you're indecisive like me, then I do apologize.

—If for whatever reason you would like to keep your vote private, you may message me your vote and I'll count it. ****Please only PM me with your vote on here! I had quite a few people send me their votes via tumblr. I accepted them for this chapter, but from now on if you PM me your votes outside of this site then they will not be counted!****

—**NEW RULE.** To keep things organized for me, I'm putting in place a cutoff date for voting after each chapter. **So, for this specific chapter** **you may vote up until July 16****th****. **That way I have time to figure out how the next chapter is going to go without new people voting and constantly tilting the scales.

A reminder of Korra's love interests:

Asami

Mako

Bolin

Tahno

Howl

Iroh

Amon

And so the playing field narrows. I encourage everyone to participate and vote for their favorite (or at least the person that they want to see continue). Participating is super important for this story to stay afloat and for each character to have a fighting chance.

Once again, thank you to everyone who participated last chapter. You guys helped jump start this story. I appreciate and love you guys! Now, VOTE! :D


	3. three

**A/N:**

**Sorry for the delay, guys. I got thoroughly distracted by Zutara Week and the Olympics.**

**A love interest got eliminated in this chapter. Read on to find out who!**

* * *

Korra hated swallowing her pride. But, unfortunately, that was just something that she was going to have to do this morning.

She held the cupcakes close to her chest as she walked down the school hallway, snatching them away from anyone who had the nerve to ask for one.

She nearly groaned when she spotted him. He was standing next to his brother, Bolin, and was chatting up some stupid looking redheaded girl. Sighing, Korra marched right up to him and cleared her throat.

Mako's whole demeanor changed as soon as he saw her. His cheeks turned bright red, he shifted his weight between his two feet, and he refused to look her in the eye. "What do you want?" he muttered, turning his body a little bit so that he was halfway facing Korra. Bolin was rolling his eyes from where he was standing by Mako's shoulder.

Korra shoved the plate of cupcakes into his chest. "I made these to say thanks for the other day, and to say that I'm sorry that I accused you of stealing my clothes."

At Mako's thoroughly confused look, Korra clarified. "The locker room incident?"

"Oh. Right."

Korra nodded, waved to Bolin and was about to walk away, when Mako reached out and grabbed her shoulder. Then, to Korra's complete fury, he attempted to hand her back the cupcakes, the cupcakes that she'd spent _hours_ on the night before.

"That's okay," the quarterback was saying. "It was no big deal. You really don't have to—"

Korra pushed the cupcakes back in Mako's direction. "No, really, I made them for you. Keep them."

Mako's mouth was starting to dip into a scowl. "I said that it was no big deal, so you can give these to someone else."

"But I didn't make them for someone else. I made them for _you_."

"But I don't want them."

"That's too bad!"

Mako shoved the cupcakes at her so hard that Korra nearly dropped them. "Why are you being so difficult? I don't need cupcakes from you."

"Take them!"

"No!"

"_Take the fucking cupcakes_!"

"Okaaaaaaay." Bolin reached between the two of them and quickly snatched the plate out of Korra's insistent hands. "Korra, these cupcakes look delicious. I'm sure my polite, thankful, big brother can't wait to eat them."

Mako whipped his head around to glare down at his brother. "Bolin, stay out—"

The warning bell rang, signaling that class was going to be starting soon. Grumbling, Mako turned and walked away, his backpack slung over one shoulder.

Bolin gave Korra s embarrassed smile. "I'll see you Saturday, for practice?"

Korra nodded, her fists still shaking with anger. "Okay. See you."

* * *

"He's acting so weird. First, he treated me like crap just because I had the nerve to go out for the boy's team. And now he'll barely look at me without blushing, and then he'll get mad for no reason. He doesn't make any sense."

Korra and Asami were sitting in their chemistry class. They were technically supposed to be working together on a worksheet about their lab equipment, but the worksheet sat on Korra's desk, forgotten.

Asami looked amused. "Well, he_ did_ see you naked."

Korra narrowed her eyes. "I wasn't naked. I was wrapped up in a shower curtain."

"A white, see-through shower curtain." Asami smirked.

Korra felt her cheeks flush. She crosses her arms over her chest and frowns at the floor. "He still doesn't make any sense."

Asami propped her elbow up on her desk. "Well, before he saw you as a nuisance, but after the locker room incident you've become the star of his masturbatory fantasies."

Korra gulped and sank a little lower in her chair. "I don't know how I feel about that."

Asami giggled. "Well, you can't really blame the guy. You're hot!"

A couple of their classmates swiveled around in their chairs to stare at the duo. They quickly turned back around at Korra's heated glare.

Asami gently nudged Korra in the shoulder. "What are you doing after school today?"

Korra shrugged. "I don't have practice until Saturday and I don't work tonight, so, nothing I guess."

The other girl beamed. "You should come to the track with me!" she exclaimed with excitement.

"You won't accidentally kill me, will you?"

Asami furrowed her eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm a great driver!"

Korra snorted, shaking her head. "Sure, sure." She turned her attention onto the worksheet. "Okay, what exactly is a beaker, again?"

* * *

"I'm going to die. I'm dying, I'm dying!"

Korra was literally clinging onto the edges of her seat. She was in a racecar with Asami in the driver's seat, and the other girl was zooming them around the racetrack at speeds that were absolutely _terrifying_.

A helmet-clad Asami was laughing with excitement as they whipped around a turn, and Korra quickly moved up her hands and covered her eyes.

Eventually, when they finally pulled off the track, Korra was feeling lightheaded.

"You all right?" Asami asked in concern, briefly taking her eyes off the course.

Korra nodded slowly, suddenly feeling nauseous. "Fine. I'm fine."

When they pulled to a stop Korra opened her door and nearly fell out of the car. As she slowly straightened out her body and stretched her arms over her head, she sent Asami a glare over the top of the racecar. "Next time, how 'bout we just go to the movies or something?"

Asami rolled her eyes. "You're no fun."

And then she tossed a pair of lacy, red panties at Korra.

Korra held them up for inspection. They were brand new; the tag was still on them. "Um, thanks?"

Asami was laughing outright. "I told you that I'd bring you a change of underwear. You know, just in case you peed yourself."

At that, Korra couldn't help but smile. "How thoughtful."

Asami walked around to stand next to her before taking off her helmet and shaking out her long, dark hair. "So, do you want to go and grab some coffee? It's still kind of early."

In truth, Korra hated coffee, but she really was enjoying spending time with Asami. "Yeah, okay. That sounds cool."

Half an hour later they pulled up to a local coffee shop that Asami claimed was the best in the city. She kept going on about lattes, and frappes and other drinks that Korra weren't sure about. But as they walked inside, the person behind the register made Korra want to turn around and leave.

She groaned out loud.

"What's wrong?" Asami questioned with concern.

Before Korra could open her mouth, the guy behind the counter waved. "What's up, sweetheart?" he called across the shop.

"God help me," Korra mumbled. She then proceeded to walk up the front counter. She'd look like a complete idiot if she just turned around and left. She supposed that, since she'd poured tea on him the last time she encountered him, that she owed him one. Sort of.

"Do you know him?" Asami whispered to her.

Korra nodded. "He's a jerk. He plays for the school across town."

Asami's green eyes flicked over Tahno, inspecting him. "Doesn't seem like all that much to me."

When they reached the front register, Tahno leaned against the counter and flipped his hair out of his light eyes. "Ladies, what can I get for you?"

"What are you doing here?" Korra spat out.

Tahno shrugged one shoulder. "Even star quarterbacks have to pay the bills." He smirked at her. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I won't pour scolding hot liquid on _your_ lap."

"Good to know," Korra grumbled. She took a step back and pretended to survey the menu, but in reality she was watching Tahno out of the corner of her eye. He was wearing an apron and a hat, and looked a lot more down-to-earth then the last time she'd seen him. He almost looked approachable.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Tahno quipped, and Korra stiffened in embarrassment, knowing he'd caught her watching. Fuming, she started looking through her purse, intent on finding her wallet, paying for her drink, and getting the hell out of there.

Asami ordered some sort of espresso thing and as she handed Tahno her card, she said, "Don't call Korra 'sweetheart'."

Tahno swiped her card through the register. "Why? Is she _your_ sweetheart?"

Asami turned beet red and narrowed her green eyes. "Now I get why she doesn't like you."

Tahno turned his gaze onto Korra and clutched his chest with mock distress. "Our lovely Korra here doesn't like me? How ever will I get on with my day?"

"Fuck off," Korra growled.

Tahno laughed as he handed Asami back her card. His eyes were bright as he turned them onto Korra. "What'll you have, sweetheart?"

Korra felt her tongue stick to the roof of her mouth. "Um… How about… An iced…mocha thing."

Tahno nodded slowly. "An iced, mocha thing coming right up." He started to make both Asami and Korra's drinks, and as his back was turned, Asami leaned over and said, "He's an asshole."

Korra nodded in agreement. Her whole mood had turned sour.

Tahno was smiling when he turned around with their drinks. He handed it to them with a flourish. "Ladies, both of you have a nice evening. Especially you, sweetheart." He winked at Korra.

Korra quickly took her drink from him and her eyes widened when she saw what he'd drawn on the side of her cup. She nearly threw it back in his face.

"What'd he do?" Asami stepped right up to Korra and tried to pry the drink from her fingers.

"He…_he drew a dick on my cup_!"

Laughing, and with a totally unapologetic expression on his face, Tahno quickly ducked behind the register.

"Let's just go." Asami grabbed Korra's elbow and steered her out of the shop.

It wasn't until Korra was back in the car that she realized that Tahno hadn't charged her for her drink.

* * *

Korra was curled up on her couch, texting Howl with Naga at her feet, when the doorbell rang.

She wasn't really sure who it could be, since her parents had declared that it was a date night and that they wouldn't be back until late that evening. She got up and peeked out the window. Upon spotting who it was, a smile spread across her face.

She opened the door and propped a hand onto her hip. "What are you doing here?"

Bolin gave her a sheepish smile and shrugged one shoulder before holding up an empty plate. "Just returning this."

Korra took the plate and tucked it under her arm. "You could've just given it to me tomorrow at practice."

Bolin shrugged again. "Yeah, I know." Then he stared at her expectantly.

Korra stepped aside, presenting him with an open doorway. "You wanna come in for a little bit?"

Bolin's whole face lit up and he immediately walked inside, looking particularly cheerful. "Thanks!" He took his time glancing around the living room. "You have a nice place."

"Thanks." Korra walked into the kitchen and placed the plate into the sink, Bolin at her heels. "So, did Mako enjoy his cupcakes?" She peeks at Bolin out of the corner of her eye.

He nods quickly—too quickly. "Oh, yeah, totally! He ate every bite."

"Stuff it, Bolin. Mako didn't eat any of them, didn't he?"

His expression falls a little bit. "No. My brother sometimes…can be difficult."

Korra snorted. "You think?"

Bolin leaned against the refrigerator. "He's a great guy, really. He can just be hard to get to know when you first meet him."

Frowning, Korra crossed her arms under her breasts and glared down at the floor. "Yeah, well, I don't have the patience to get to know a guy whose hell bent on being a dick to me."

Bolin cleared his throat, causing Korra to look up. His green eyes were warm and friendly, like they always were. It was a feature of his that Korra really adored. "He'll come around. Eventually."

"_Eventually _being the key word," Korra pointed out with a laugh. She waved her hand toward the living room, and subsequently the couch. "Come on. You watch TV, right?"

"_Duh_. How can you even ask me that?"

Moments later they were sitting next to each other on the couch, sifting through the channels. Occasionally Korra would land on a station that was playing a show that Bolin liked, and she watched with amusement as her friend geeked out. He'd grab her arm and gently squeeze it in excitement. "Ahh, Korra! You've seen that right? It's totally underrated. It deserved an Emmy, I'm telling you."

This happened multiple times until Korra finally landing on some cooking competition show.

"Stop!" Bolin shouted, startling Naga.

And that was how Korra found herself watching Master Chef. It was, to her surprise, extremely addicting. She was sucked in within seconds.

It was toward the end of the episode, when one of the amateur chefs were about to be eliminated, that her phone went off. She pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at the message that Howl had just sent her. It was a picture of a funny billboard that he'd seen earlier that day.

Korra found herself laughing and then, suddenly, quite homesick. She missed her old town and the kids that she'd used to hang out with. A lot.

Bolin, noticing the sudden forlorn expression on her face, picked up the remote and paused the TV. "Hey, what's wrong? Did you get some bad news?"

Korra shook her head. "No, my friend Howl just texted me—he's a friend from my old town—and it just made me miss some stuff, that's all." She glanced up into his eyes and she could _feel _his understanding.

He nodded. "Moving sucks. But, hey!" He pushed playfully against her shoulder. "If you hadn't of moved here, then you wouldn't have gone out for the football team, and then we wouldn't have met, and then we wouldn't be friends, and I wouldn't be here right now watching Master Chef with you."

"And you also wouldn't have eaten a plate of my cupcakes just to make me feel better."

He grinned. "Yep."

Korra playfully pushed back against his shoulder, and Bolin's smile intensified. Soon they were pushing each other and giggling and suddenly he was tickling her sides and she screeching and swatting at his hands.

That's when she realized how close he was. He was right above her, and Korra was able to see in detail how green his eyes really were, and the way that his nose tipped out cutely at the end. Her breathing slowed, but her heart sped up.

And then he kissed her.

Korra felt her entire body freeze in disbelief. But before she could well and truly react, Bolin had wrenched himself away and was pushing a hand through his hair in anxiety.

"Crap I'm— Korra, I'm _so_ sorry."

Blinking in confusion, Korra sat up straight, leaned against the back of the couch and crossing her ankles. Her cheeks were burning. "Um, it's fine, Bo."

"No, it's not cool. You invited me in and we were just going to chill for a little while and then, and then I…" Bolin groaned and rubbed his temples. "This is not how that was supposed to happen."

Korra couldn't help but find his reaction kind of endearing. She grasped his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "And how was it supposed to happen?" she teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"Not like this."

Korra frowned at the boy sitting next to her in worry. "Bo—"

He sighed in dejection. "I think it might be best if I went home now."

Her worry started to turn into irritation. "Bolin, it's okay, you don't have to—Bolin!"

He was already halfway out of her door. "Sorry, Korra."

Her hands formed fists at her sides. "You have _nothing _to be sorry for, you're overreacting! Bo—"

But he was already gone.

* * *

Bolin wasn't at practice the next day.

* * *

Iroh was in a panic. Korra had never seen him this stressed out before.

She shoved her bag and sweatshirt into a locker, slowly peering around the locker door in order to watch Iroh text wildly on his phone.

"Something up?" she asked innocently, not wanting to bring unnecessary negative attention onto herself. "You seem…upset."

Iroh viciously stuffed his phone into the pocket of his jeans, _tight_ jeans. Korra had to gulp when she first saw him in them.

"Fucking Amon just quit today, out of nowhere!"

Korra felt her jaw drop to the floor. "He _what_?"

Iroh turned his golden eyes onto her, and Korra found that under his gaze she was glued to wherever she was. They made her unmovable. "He just turned in his apron this afternoon and walked out." Grumbling, Iroh started to shift through some paperwork sitting atop his desk. "I knew the guy was sketchy when I hired him, but this is ridiculous. Who does that? I mean, _who does that_?"

Korra slammed her locker shut and stepped up to Iroh's desk. She wasn't exactly sure what to say to him, but she found herself resisting the urge to reach out and touch his shoulder in order to encourage him. She pushed her hands into her pockets.

"Did you find a replacement?" she asked.

Iroh nodded, briefly glancing at the office door. "Yeah, I found a temp at the last minute. They should be here in—"

The door banged open and in strolled a tall, lithe young women with a long, brown braid, gray eyes, and an expression that was _way_ too cheerful.

"Hi!" She waved enthusiastically. Her eyes flicked from Korra to Iroh.

"Hey." Iroh's voice sounded strained. "Korra, this is Tu Lee. She's an, uh, old friend."

From the way that Iroh said her name, to the way that Tu Lee's gaze settled on Iroh appreciatively, Korra had a feeling that this new arrangement wasn't going to tilt in her favor.

But, despite the boiling feeling in her chest, Korra still stuck her hand out and said, "Hello."

* * *

**A/N:**

The character eliminated in this chapter was **Amon**. He didn't receive any votes, so off with his head!

I tried to give the underdog characters some big scenes this time around. So, yay!

The playing field evened out pretty nicely last chapter. I'd say that there are three strong contenders in neck and neck for the top spot, while two other characters are flying below the radar. But, you know what they say about dark horses…

**A Few Simple Voting Rules**

**Anonymous**

**Votes**

**Will**

**Not**

**Be **

**Accepted.**

I cannot stress this enough! No anonymous votes! I still got a bunch of anonymous votes for the last chapter. Once again, if you vote anonymously then your vote will not be accepted! Guys, it literally takes seconds to log in, and only minutes to create an account! I don't want to see anyone's vote get overlooked because of this!

—You can only vote for one person. If you're indecisive like me, then I do apologize.

—If for whatever reason you would like to keep your vote private, you may message me your vote and I'll count it. Please only message me with your vote here on .

—To keep things organized for me, I'm putting in place a cutoff date for voting after each chapter. **So, for this specific chapter** **you may vote up until August 8th. **That way I have time to figure out how the next chapter is going to go without new people voting and constantly tilting the scales.

A reminder of Korra's love interests:

Asami

Mako

Bolin

Tahno

Howl

Iroh

A big THANK YOU to everyone who voted in the last chapter. In order to keep this story afloat and for every character to have a fighting chance, I encourage everyone to vote for their favorite love interest, or the love interest that you definitely want to see make it to the next round.

Love you guys, and make sure to vote! :D


	4. four

**A/N:**

I realize that this chapter isn't as long as the others, but I had so much fun writing it that I don't even care.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who voted in the last chapter! You guys are making this a lot of fun!

A love interest got eliminated in this chapter. Read on to find out who!

* * *

Korra felt like she was going to be sick.

She had her uniform on and she and the rest of her team were waiting to rush out onto the playing field and tear through the banner that the Spirit Squad had made for them.

It was their first football game of the season.

Too bad she could barely breathe.

"I'm going to throw up," she mumbled to herself. A few of her teammates stepped away from her.

Someone patted her shoulder and she looked up to see Bolin by her side, giving her an awkward smile.

"You'll be fine," he said reassuringly.

Korra felt her body relax a little bit. "Thanks, Bo." She bit her bottom lip in nervousness. "I thought that you were mad at me or something. You haven't talked to me in about a week."

Bolin had the decency to look ashamed of himself. "Yeah, sorry about that. I was… I was being stupid. You didn't deserve to be treated that way."

Korra nodded. A part of her felt bad, since she and Bolin _really_ needed to talk about their kiss and what it meant, but her mind was going in a million different directions at that moment. She couldn't focus on the game and Bolin at the same time. It would be too much.

She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "We can talk about it later, okay?"

He squeezed her hand back, but his expression looked strained. Korra was about to open her mouth and say something else, something that might have comforted him a little bit, when she heard the crowd out in the stadium erupt in screams.

"NOW PRESENTING YOUR FIRE FERRETS!"

The entire team charged toward the banner, and before Korra could even move her feet she felt herself being shoved forward by all the teammates standing behind her. The next thing she knew, she was out in the middle of the field.

She could barely hear, the crowd was so deafening. It was a home game, so she saw quite a few people that she knew within the stands. She spotted Asami sitting near the center of the field on the front row, and the two girls managed to wave to each other before Korra was forced to turn her attention onto the game.

Her team had lost the coin toss, so the other team would get the ball first. Korra took the bench along with the rest of the offensive members of their team.

That's when she noticed all the homemade signs.

Many people in the crowd were wildly waving around posters with her name on it—signs of encouragement and praise. Most of them were being held up by little girls and young women. Korra felt a surge of pride, and she felt the desperate, all consuming need to prove herself out on the field that night.

She could do this.

She was going to do this.

* * *

She couldn't do this.

She'd been tackled more times than she could count. She was fast, faster than any of the other boys on both teams, and perhaps that's why everyone on the other team's defense were hell bent on taking her down.

She'd pulled off her shirt and had checked her ribcage during half-time. Her skin was already black and blue.

Her body felt tender and sore, and if some burly teenage boy shoved her into the ground one more time she was certain that she was going to burst into tears.

The Fire Ferrets were winning by only a couple of points. One more touchdown might be able to ensure a victory, but Korra hadn't been able to get her hands onto the ball.

That was the other problem: Mako wouldn't pass the ball to her.

He was being a complete jackass about it too. He ignored her when she'd shout at him, and he wouldn't even look at her when he was deciding who to throw the ball to. Korra didn't see why she was bothering to play, if Mako wasn't even going to give her the opportunity to.

There was less than a minute left on the clock. The other team, desperate to score, was out for blood, and Korra found herself constantly on guard even though she never had the ball in her possession.

Mako had the ball again. Korra expected him to toss it to the skinny sophomore, like he always did, but for some unexplainable reason, he tossed it to her.

To _her_.

She did what she was programmed to do. She turned around and made a beeline toward the end of the field.

Seconds flew by, Korra could barely breathe because of the amount of pain that her legs and torso were in, but in the end none of it mattered.

She ran and ran and ran.

And then she scored.

* * *

Her entire team was singing to her in the boy's locker room.

She couldn't keep the large grin off of her face. Even the boys who had been standoffish with her even up to the last practice they'd had were congratulating her and giving her pats on the back.

She could barely believe that this was even happening.

Bolin pushed through a couple of players and yanked Korra into a massive hug. "You're amazing," he breathed into her ear. "You're freaking incredible, did you know that?"

She laughed and pulled out of their hug. "I was aware."

Bolin smiled down at her. He opened his mouth to say something else when the fullback clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Party at my house!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, and everyone in the locker room erupted into cheers.

Bolin nudged Korra with his elbow. "See you there?"

Korra ran her fingertips along her ribs. They ached, but with all the adrenaline pumping through her veins she could hardly feel any pain. "Definitely!"

She began to make her way out of the locker room. "But first I need to shower. And then I need to call Asami."

* * *

"Where is this place again?" Asami asked. To Korra's complete and utter shock, she was actually going the speed limit as they drove through a neighborhood.

Korra inspected the map on her phone. "Turn right at the stop sign. The party should be at the first house of the left."

Asami nodded, briefly taking her gaze away from the road in order to smile at Korra. "Think that there will be anything to drink?"

Korra snorted. "It's a high school party thrown by a popular football player. I'm pretty sure that there will be drinks."

As they slowed to a stop in front of the house, both Asami and Korra's jaws had practically fallen off, considering how quickly they had dropped them. Students were _everywhere_. They were in the house, all over the front lawn, and Korra was pretty sure that she saw a pool filled with kids in the backyard.

"Holy crap," she breathed.

Asami turned to look at Korra, wide eyed. "The cops are _so_ going to be called tonight."

* * *

The music was turned up so loud that Korra could feel the bass thumping through her body. It was ridiculous.

She and Asami had linked their arms together so that they wouldn't be separated. Both girls had red cups in their hands and were taking their time socializing with all of the kids that they knew.

Despite the loudness, Korra was having a pretty great time. Her red cup of punch was now empty. For the second time. She was feeling great! Until she saw _him_.

Korra yanked on Asami's arm in order to gain her attention. "Look! My Tahno-senses are tingling."

Asami snubbed up her nose. "Oh, yuck."

The raven haired girl was about to steer the both of them out of the room when Tahno saw them. His eyes lit up and his ever present smirk deepened.

Then he started to walk over to them, and there was nowhere to escape to.

"Ladies," he greeted. Korra noticed that he didn't have a drink.

"What are you doing here?" Korra immediately asked, blue eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Tahno shrugged one shoulder. "What can I say? I'm just a social butterfly, always fluttering around."

"Go away," Asami grumbled, just loudly enough for Tahno to hear.

He rolled his eyes and then held out his hand to Korra. "Do you want to come outside where it's a little quieter? I have something that I want to tell you."

For some reason, Korra's mind went into overdrive. A part of her panicked. "I don't have feelings for you!" she exclaimed.

Both Tahno and Asami gave her utterly shocked looks. Tahno stared at her face for a second and then glanced down at Korra's empty red cup. Then he put two and two together.

"Oh my god, you're drunk!"

Korra rapidly shook her head. "No, I'm not! All I've had is punch."

Tahno quirked one eyebrow. "Yeah. Punch."

Then he did something surprising. He tucked a lose lock of her hair behind her ear. "Congrats on your win today, sweetheart. Enjoy your victory while it lasts, because the Wolfbats are going to annihilate you when we meet on the field."

He winked at her and then disappeared back into the crowd.

Korra turned her head in order to gage Asami's reaction, only to find that some shady guy, who looked much too old to be at a high school party, was hitting on her.

Asami was trying her hardest to be polite, but after a moment she turned her head and shot Korra a "help me" look.

So Korra obliged. She pulled Asami in close and glared at the creepy guy. "Hey, stop trying to make a move on my girlfriend!"

And Korra kissed Asami.

It was strange, kissing a girl. But not unpleasant. No, not unpleasant at all. Asami tasted like strawberry lip-gloss.

The creepy guy's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. He mumbled a quick apology and scurried off.

Korra finally pulled away, feeling heat in her cheeks that didn't really have anything to do with the kiss.

Asami looked thunderstruck. And then she laughed. "Well, that's one way to help a girl out." She touched Korra's cheek affectionately and both girls pulled each other close, holding hands and giggling over nothing at all.

* * *

Korra lost Asami.

All she knew was that she really had to pee, and that Asami was supposed to be waiting for her right outside the door, but when Korra had finished up her business, her friend was nowhere to be found.

She didn't freak out that she'd lost her ride. She was too drunk to freak out.

Mako found her sitting on the floor beside the couch, talking to anyone who even glanced down at her.

"This is not behavior that reflects well on the team." He hauled her up and onto her feet. She swayed and then latched onto his arm.

"Oh stuff it, Mom." She sniggered and leaned her head against his shoulder. She looked up to see Mako shaking his head at her.

"You're wasted, aren't you?" he accused, frowning.

"You frown too much," she blurted out. "And do you really think about me when you jerk off? Asami said that your probably did."

Mako's mouth fell open and he turned as red as a tomato. "N-No! Of course not! What-how—"

Korra snuggled up against Mako. She could really use a bed to sleep in right now, but Mako would do for the time being. "You can think about me when you do that. It doesn't bother me. Even if you are an asshole who didn't eat my cupcakes."

Mako's skin turned hot underneath Korra' body, so she pulled away from him a little bit to prod at his forehead. "You're hot. Are you running a fever?"

Mako swatted her hand away. "No! Just—" He groaned and rubbed at his temples. "You're really drunk, Korra. Where's Asami."

And suddenly Korra was heartbroken. "I lost her," she admitted mournfully. "I had to pee but then I couldn't find her."

Mako boldly fished her phone out of her front pocket. "Okay. I'm going to call your parents and tell them to come get you." There was genuine concern on his face.

Korra clawed at his hand, trying desperately to pull her phone out of his grip. "No! Not them! They'll kill me."

Mako narrowed his gaze. "I'm not sending you home with just _anyone_, Korra." And then, as an afterthought, he added, "Bolin would kill me."

Korra froze. She hadn't seen Bolin all night.

"He ended up staying home. His pet ferret is sick," Mako mentioned, as if he reading her mind. Then he waved her phone in front of her face. "Who do you want me to call? I can't take you home. I didn't drive here."

Concentrating very hard, Korra took her phone and drunkenly scrolled through her contacts. Finding the one she needed, she pointed the contact out to Mako. "Call them."

And then she ran into the bathroom and started puking.

* * *

"I swear to god, if you puke on my leather upholstery then I'm going to fire you, then rehire you, then fire you _again_."

Korra was happily singing along to One Direction on the radio, much to Iroh's frustration. They'd already had to pull over once so that she could vomit on the side of the road.

"And stop singing. You don't even know any of the words."

Korra attempted to look at him, but her whole world was spinning. "So? That means _nothing_." And then she started to clap her hands.

Finally, Iroh turned off the radio, nearly swerving onto the other side of the road in the process. He heaved a big sigh. "You better be glad I like you, kid."

Humming, Korra nodded and patted Iroh's shoulder. "I like you, too."

Then she slumped over against the window and passed out.

* * *

Korra awoke to sunlight and the blaring noise of a television.

She sat up slowly, nausea making her move at a glacial pace. She instantly saw that she was not, in fact, in her own home.

She was on some stranger's couch.

Groaning she wrapped the blanket that someone had draped over her tighter around her body. She was about to lay back down when she noticed Iroh in the kitchen. He was eating a bowl of cereal.

So she was in his apartment.

Interesting.

Noticing that she was awake, Iroh set down his breakfast and made his way over to her. "How are you feeling?"

Korra sent him a death glare and he laughed.

Korra rubbed at the back of her neck and moaned. She was so hungover that she couldn't properly appreciate the fact that Iroh was walking around_ shirtless_.

Life wasn't fair.

"Did I throw up on anyone?" she asked, squinting her eyes against the bright sunlight.

Iroh shook his head. "Nope. You got it all in the toilet like a champ."

Korra sighed in relief. "That's good to know."

Iroh sat down next to her on the couch. "Some dude called me at 1am and told me that you were pretty drunk. Said that he was concerned that you weren't going to find a ride home. Seemed nice. Was a total dick in person, though."

Korra's head hurt too much for her to laugh. "That would be Mako."

Iroh patted her knee. "Let me go get my shoes. I'll drive you home."

He disappeared into his room. That was when Korra spotted his phone lying on top of the coffee table. Korra pressed the button on the side and it turned on. She didn't look at any of his text messages, of course. That would have been rude. But Korra liked seeing what people had for their ringtones. She thought it was funny.

Iroh's phone, however, was currently on the contacts page. Korra went to exit out of it.

That was when she noticed that she was listed in his phone as "Jailbait".

* * *

**A/N:**

The love interest eliminated in the chapter was **Howl**. He didn't receive enough votes, so bye-bye Howl. I wasn't really sure how to axe him and still have it be relevant for this chapter, so I decided not to mention him at all, ha. I admit that I am lazy.

I will go ahead and say that even though Howl is no longer in the race, I'm definitely not through with him. So there is that to consider!

**A Few Simple Voting Rules**

— **Anonymous votes will not be accepted. **I cannot stress this enough! No anonymous votes! I still got a bunch of anonymous votes for the last chapter. Once again, if you vote anonymously then your vote will not be accepted! Guys, it literally takes seconds to log in, and only minutes to create an account! I don't want to see anyone's vote get overlooked because of this!

—You can only vote for one person. If you're indecisive like me, then I do apologize.

—If for whatever reason you would like to keep your vote private, you may message me your vote and I'll count it. Please only message me with your vote here on .

—To keep things organized for me, I'm putting in place a cutoff date for voting after each chapter. **So, for this specific chapter** **you may vote up until September 3rd. **That way I have time to figure out how the next chapter is going to go without new people voting and constantly tilting the scales.

A reminder of Korra's love interests:

Asami

Mako

Bolin

Tahno

Iroh

Thank you guys so much for reading! Remember to vote for your favorite love interest! Or you could try to be strategic and vote for someone that may not be your favorite, but you at least want them to make it to the next round! Just a suggestion! Remember that voting is super important!

Love you guys!


	5. Missing Scene: Iroh to the rescue!

**A/N:**

**Just a cutesy little missing scene/drabble that I felt compelled to write!**

* * *

Iroh was tired. He was tired, he was out on the road at one o'clock in the morning, and there was absolutely nothing of value playing on the radio.

Basically, Iroh was not happy.

He pulled up into the driveway of the house that Mako had messaged him the address to. There were kids everywhere, drunk, stoned, and what have you.

Iroh rolled his eyes, parked his car, and got out.

He'd gone to his fair share of parties when he had been in high school, so he really couldn't judge any of these kids, including Korra.

Besides, they had no idea what was waiting for them when they hit college.

He made his way into the house, occasionally having to back himself into the wall in order to avoid being run over. He knew that he looked _way_ too old to be at a party like this, but no one seemed to pay him any mind. That was good.

And then he spotted her. She was clinging onto some tall guy with lean muscles and a worried frown on his face. Probably Mako. He was trying to keep Korra from falling over onto the floor.

"Hey," Iroh greeted, walking up to them and then reaching out and placing a steadying hand onto Korra's shoulder.

"Took you long enough," Mako grumbled irritably.

Iroh narrowed his golden eyes. "Sorry. I only had to get out of bed, throw clothes on, and drive all the way over here from my apartment, which is on the _other side of town_."

Mako sucked in his cheeks, clearly forcing himself not to say anything.

Iroh didn't remember being that rude when he was eighteen, but whatever. He was usually the drunk one at these kinds of parties, so there was that to consider.

Iroh spread his arms out. "Give her to me."

Mako frowned, but complied, carefully moving a glassy eyed and giggling Korra into Iroh's grip.

Iroh's employee rolled her head back against his shoulder and gazed up at him. "Oh, _hey _Iroh! What are you doing here? Mako and I were just talking about how he jerks off to the thought of me."

The Mako kid looked horrified. "I mean, she's drunk! She has no idea what she's talking about! I don't even know where she got that idea…"

Iroh was pretty good at knowing when someone was lying. He was trying very hard not to smile. "Yeah, okay. Sure."

Mako swallowed and said nothing.

Iroh wrapped a secure arm around Korra's waist and turned the both of them toward the door. "All right. I'm taking her back to my apartment and she can crash on my couch."

Mako nodded.

Iroh tilted his head toward him respectfully. "Thanks for calling me, man. It was decent of you."

Mako nodded again. "Just, don't fire her." And then he patted the top of Korra's head. "Oh, by the way, she's been in the bathroom puking a lot this past half hour. Just to warn you."

Great. Just great.

* * *

"Fuck, Korra, how much did you have to drink?!"

The girl was hurling all over the side of the road. She briefly straightened her back in order to answer him. "Just a couple of cups! And it was punch! Munch Punch!"

Iroh furrowed his thick eyebrows. "What? Munch Punch? Do you mean _Hunch_ Punch?"

"Oh! Yeah—" She leaned forward and started vomiting again before she could say anymore.

"Korra, you realize that Hunch Punch is normally chock full of Everclear?"

"What's Everclear?"

"Oh my god."

* * *

Korra was starting to calm down. She wasn't jabbering quite as much. She'd only thrown up her hands and exclaimed, "What am I doing?" two times.

That was when Iroh made the grave mistake of allowing her to fiddle with the radio. She managed to find the station playing One Direction in less than five seconds.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

**A/N:**

There's no voting in this chapter, obviously. So if you leave a vote in this chapter then it's not going to count.

But I'd still love to know your thoughts, so please review! :D


	6. five

**A/N:**

And here you go!

A love interest was eliminated in this chapter. Read on to find out who!

* * *

Korra's jaw dropped.

Asami's house was huge.

Korra had been aware that Asami was well off, of course. The whole school knew about her racing. But she hadn't gotten the message that her friend was _this_ well off.

She tentatively parked her crappy car in the long driveway and then made her way to the front door. A middle aged woman opened the door before Korra could even ring the doorbell.

"Are you Asami's friend?" the woman asked, a polite smile on her face.

Korra quickly nodded.

The woman stepped aside and gestured for Korra to enter. "She's upstairs in her bedroom. I'm Moira, the housekeeper."

Korra thanked the housekeeper politely, taking note of her bottled red hair. But she seemed nice enough, if a little odd.

She darted up the stairs, following the sound of pop music in order to find Asami's bedroom. She knocked, but didn't wait for an answer before walking in.

Asami was stretched across her bed, laptop set up before her. The long haired girl looked up at Korra and grinned. "Hey!"

"Hey, yourself." Korra plopped down in one of the cushy armchairs in the corner of Asami's room. Then she took it upon herself to gaze around.

Everything in Asami's room was expensive. A nice, flat screen television hung against the wall, and below it was every blu-ray imaginable. Nice, pristine looking speakers were in the other corner of the room. That was where the music was coming from. The closet door was wide open, and Korra didn't have to see the clothes and accessories inside to know that they were all designer.

"Your room is pretty awesome," Korra remarked, quirking an eyebrow at Asami.

The other girl smiled. "Thanks."

An awkward silence fell over the pair. Finally, Korra sighed. "What happened Friday night? You just disappeared. Iroh ended up coming and getting me, and that was only because of Mako." Korra narrowed her blue gaze. "I had to rely on _Mako_ to find me a ride." She crossed her arms over her chest and stared down her friend.

Asami openly winced. She shut her laptop and gave Korra an apologetic look. "Actually, that's why I asked you to come by. So I could explain."

"Explain away."

"Okay, so you know when you went to get your cup refilled for the third time?"

Korra wrinkled her nose and nodded. Just _thinking _about that punch was making her stomach roll.

"Well, while you were gone I might have accidentally drunk dialed my house."

"You _what_?"

Asami couldn't even look at her. "Not one of my finer moments. Moira, our housekeeper, picked up. Anyway, she immediately told my dad that I was at some party, so she looked up the tracker on my phone and then came and got me."

Korra blinked. "Your dad has you tracked?"

Asami cringed. "He's a bit over protective. But Moira found me while you were in the bathroom. So, that's what happened."

Korra shook her head a little bit. "Yesterday, after I woke up on Iroh's couch with a hangover, I remembered that you'd disappeared on me. I just wanted to know that you were okay."

Asami's pretty green eyes twinkled a little bit. "I'm okay." She frowned. "Yesterday was awful, though. I was so hungover it was ridiculous. But my dad still made me get up and drive over to the track."

Korra gave her friend a horrified look. "That sucks."

"Yeah…" Then Asami sat up and slipped off her bed before throwing her arms out wide. "Sorry for ditching you, Korra. But I know just how to make it up to you!"

For some reason, Korra felt a little apprehensive. "Oh, yeah?"

"You're birthday is coming up very soon—"

"How did you know that?"

"I might have Facebook stalked you. Anyway, your birthday is coming up and…wait for it…we should throw the party here!"

Korra almost laughed. "No way."

Asami's adorable face fell so quickly that it was almost comical. "But…but why?"

Korra shrugged one shoulder. "I haven't had a birthday party thrown in my honor since I was four."

Asami looked appalled. "Oh my god, Korra, that is the saddest thing I've ever heard! We're throwing you a party. That's that."

"No."

"Yes."

"_No_."

"_Yes_."

"Ugh, you're going to fight me on this, aren't you?"

"Yep."

"_Fine_."

Asami rushed forward and flung her arms around Korra's shoulders, pulling her flush against her body. Korra's first impulse was to pull away, but instead she calmed her body and relaxed into Asami's embrace. It was…nice. Asami smelled good, like lavender.

When the other girl pulled back her green eyes roamed over Korra appreciatively.

Hmm. Interesting.

* * *

Bolin cornered her after practice the next day.

He stood in front of her silently while she tied on her sneakers.

"So," he said. "How good are you at sneaking around?"

Korra froze mid tie. She glanced up at Bolin curiously. "Why?"

Bolin bit his bottom lip to keep himself from grinning too obnoxiously. "Because Mako and I were thinking of doing a little spying. Well,_ I_ was thinking of doing a little spying. Mako would just be driving."

The next thing Korra knew, she was belting out Celine Dion along with Bolin in the back of Mako's car.

Mako looked completely put out. "Can you two _shut up_?" he exclaimed.

This only caused Bolin and Korra to sing even louder.

When the song ended, Korra grasped Bolin's shoulder before ruffling his hair. "This is going to be fun!" she said in excitement. "I mean, stupid Tahno spies on us with his friends all the time."

To her dismay, Bolin pulled away from her touch, the smile leaving his eyes. "Yeah," he agreed, pretending as if nothing was wrong, "it's time for the Wolf Bats to get a taste of their own medicine."

A huff came from the driver's seat. "And who's to say that the Wolf Bats' practice isn't already over? Or, maybe they don't even have practice today? Did either of you even consider that?"

Korra snorted. "Don't be such a party pooper, Jaws."

Confusion crossed over the side of Mako's face that Korra could see. "Jaws?"

"You know, Jaws. Like the shark. Because you're a mako shark." She giggled at her own wit and Bolin shook his head in amusement.

"Oh, haha. Because I've never heard that one before," Mako snapped in irritation. "You're very clever."

Korra smiled brightly at him. "I know, Jaws."

Mako frowned deeply, but didn't say anything else.

Eventually Korra and Bolin were drawn into a discussion about cartoons where Bolin proceeded to wax poetic about Adventure Time.

Korra nodded along, filing away names like Princess Bubblegum and Finn into her memory, when Mako pulled the car into the rival high school across town's parking lot.

Everyone reached for the door handles' before pausing.

"Are we really doing this?" Mako asked one last time, voice resigned.

Bolin and Korra caught each other's gaze and nodded simultaneously. "Definitely," they both said in unison.

* * *

"I knew this was going to happen," Mako spat out.

The football field was completely empty. The two scoreboards at each end of the field were emblazoned with GO WOLF BATS. Korra rubbed her arms as she gazed at them, wishing that she'd brought her sweatshirt.

"In my defense," Bolin began, "I've heard from several reliable sources that the Wolf Bats practice at this time—"

"Clearly not reliable enough."

Mako, Korra, and Bolin whirled around to see Tahno and one of his lackeys standing behind them. Tahno looked distinctly amused, but his friend looked severely pissed off.

"Thought you'd spy on us?" the lackey snarled.

Korra took a bold step forward. "Well, why not? You guys watch our practices all the time!"

The lackey opened his mouth to retort, but Tahno raised a hand and effectively silenced him. "The girl has a point," he said smoothly, stepping forward. "However, we at least have the intelligence not to be directly caught in the act."

Korra scoffed. "So, you discovered us. What are you going to do about it?"

Tahno smirked and gave her an obvious look over. "I can think of a few ways to punish you."

Korra's mouth fell open and Mako and Bolin both instantly stepped in front of her.

Tahno, however, didn't look at all threatened. He continued to address Korra. "How was your hangover Saturday morning? You were pretty wasted at that party Friday night."

Korra crossed her arms underneath her breasts and glared at him. "I was perfectly fine, no thanks to you."

Tahno opened his mouth to say something else when Mako cut him off. "Shut the hell up, Tahno. No one cares about what you have to say." He took a step toward the exit. "Come on, guys. We're leaving."

Tahno laughed out loud. "Can't have a man to man chat with me? You've always been a little bitch, on and off the field."

Mako froze mid step before slowing angling his body back toward Tahno, fury written across his face. "What the fuck did you just say to me?"

Tahno quirked an eyebrow, causally popping his knuckles. "Did I stutter?"

The two boys were on each other in an instant. Korra immediately moved forward, intent on stopping the fight before it got to vicious, but Bolin wrapped an arm around her waist and hauled her backward.

"Let me go!" she cried out, clawing at his arm with her blunt fingernails.

"Let them duke it out," Bolin instructed. "This is how guys let out tension. They need to do this."

But Korra disagreed. She might not like either guy all that much (or maybe she liked each of them a whole _lot_) but she couldn't just stand around and watch them beat the crap out of each other.

It was _stupid_.

She finally managed to wriggle out of Bolin's grip and dart forward, aiming on getting between the two boys. But Tahno's lackey grabbed her ponytail and yanked her back before she could get too close. She let out a sharp cry of pain and the fight stopped.

"_Let go of her!"_

Korra wasn't sure which boy had shouted it, but the lackey quickly released her ponytail at the commanding tone.

That was when Bolin physically picked her up and started walking away. "Come on, Korra. Let's go get a soda!"

* * *

Korra glared down at her Pepsi. "Fighting is stupid," she grumbled.

Bolin shrugged and sipped his Mountain Dew. "I don't know. Sometimes you just gotta punch stuff. It's a dude thing."

Korra made a face and silence descended on the duo once more. They were out in the parking lot, leaning up against Mako's car.

Korra was suddenly reminded of their kiss. She looked at Bolin out of the corner of her eye and frowned. He seemed lost in thought.

Cautiously, she reached out for his hand, hoping to be able to hold it for a few seconds in order to gauge his reaction. But as soon as her fingers brushed his he yanked his hand back. Korra looked away, a disappointed and hurt feeling curling in the pit of her stomach.

"Sorry," she muttered. "I thought you liked me."

Bolin reached out as if to touch her before letting his arm drop to his side. "I did. I _do_. But…"

"But what?"

Bolin sighed. "I'm pretty sure Mako likes you."

Korra's blood went cold. "Huh?"

Bolin was starting at the blacktop, unable to look at her. "Mako doesn't like girls all that often. He's always too concerned with other things, like his schoolwork, the team, and making sure that I'm taken care of." Bolin's gaze drifts briefly to hers. "I think my brother likes you. You get under his skin, but I think that you could make each other happy. My brother deserves to be happy."

Korra had never seen Bolin so serious. She swallowed thickly and bit her bottom lip in confusion. "That's…that's a lot to process, Bo."

Bolin gave her a sad smile, but before he can say anything else Mako limped up the driver's side of the car. He was sporting a black eye, and his jaw was badly bruised.

"How'd it go?" Bolin asked, a note of concern in his voice.

"Tahno is an _asshole_," Mako breathed. Then he shook his head. "But we're cool now. He told me to swing by the coffee shop sometime and he'd get me something for free." He unlocked the car and gingerly eased himself inside. Bolin followed suit, leaving Korra still standing outside of the car, gaping like an idiot.

Were all boys this strange?

* * *

Later on that night Korra was attempting to finish up her math homework when a number she didn't recognize called her cell phone. She answered it, against her better judgment.

"Hello?"

"Sweetheart."

Korra nearly dropped her pencil. "How the _hell _did you get my number?"

Tahno chuckled. "I have my ways."

"You're such a creeper," she spat out.

"Then hang up on me."

To her utter shock, she didn't.

"That's what I thought." He sounded amused.

"What do you want?"

"To apologize for earlier."

"No, seriously, what do you want?"

He actually sounded impassioned. "The idiot that I was with never should have put his hands on you."

Korra rubbed her scalp absentmindedly. "It wasn't a big deal, honestly. Tensions were high, and all that."

"Well, it bothers me when people touch things that I like."

Korra stiffened, gaze frozen on her math problems. But none of them were registering inside of her head. "Um—"

"Let me make it up to you."

"Er, that's okay." But the thing was, she kind of found herself wanting him to.

"Come by the coffee shop on Thursday."

"And what if I don't?"

She could see his smirk easily. "You'll regret it if you don't."

Then he hung up.

* * *

After a long, brutal evening of serving annoying customers, The Jasmine Dragon was closed for the night. Korra was wiping down all of the tables with a wet rag, trying her hardest to not keel over and fall asleep on the floor. She was that tired.

Iroh suddenly appeared behind her. His body was close, perhaps a little too close to be considered appropriate. This didn't bother Korra at all.

"How'd you do on your tips?" he asked inquisitively.

Korra shrugged. "Can't complain."

Iroh nodded. He watched her for a moment, looking like he was about to ask her something else, when Tu Lee came out from the kitchen. The older girl sighed and stretched her arms over her head, sticking out her chest in the process.

Korra forced herself not to roll her eyes.

"I can't wait to collapse into my bed," Tu Lee said, voice breathy.

Out of the corner of her eye, Korra saw Iroh nod.

"We're all tired, so I think we can all agree."

Tu Lee smiled at him before looking in Korra's direction. "I just feel sorry for Korra, since she has school in the morning. You're what, a sophomore in high school?"

"Senior," both Iroh and Korra corrected at the same time.

"I'll be eighteen soon," Korra added quickly.

Tu Lee nodded, clearly not that interested. "Then you won't be jailbait anymore."

Iroh suddenly coughed loudly. "Yeah, won't that be nice," he said. His statement was meant to be casual, but Korra caught something _else _in his voice.

Korra furrowed her eyebrows. Could that have been _anticipation_?

Half an hour later the shop was clean for the night, and both Korra and Tu Lee waited for Iroh to finish counting the drawers so that they could all walk to their cars together.

Barely able to keep her eyes open, Korra said goodbye to her two coworkers. She didn't notice how Iroh's golden eyes lingered on her backside as she walked away.

Instead, she was more concerned with the fact that Howl was leaning up against her car, waiting for her.

* * *

**A/N:**

The love interest eliminated in this chapter was **Bolin**. He lost by only _**one vote**_. So remember, voting is insanely important!

**A Few Simple Voting Rules**

— **Anonymous votes will not be accepted. **I cannot stress this enough! No anonymous votes! I still got a bunch of anonymous votes for the last chapter. Once again, if you vote anonymously then your vote will not be accepted! Guys, it literally takes seconds to log in, and only minutes to create an account! I don't want to see anyone's vote get overlooked because of this!

—You can only vote for one person. If you're indecisive like me, then I do apologize.

—If for whatever reason you would like to keep your vote private, you may message me your vote and I'll count it. Please only message me with your vote either on this site or tumblr.

—To keep things organized for me, I'm putting in place a cutoff date for voting after each chapter. **So, for this specific chapter** **you may vote up until October 6th. **That way I have time to figure out how the next chapter is going to go without new people voting and constantly tilting the scales.

A reminder of Korra's love interests:

Asami

Mako

Tahno

Iroh

Sorry that this update took so long! I've been really busy as of late, which isn't usual for me. But I guess it's a nice change of pace. I hope everyone enjoyed this installment and REMEMBER TO VOTE!

Have a great weekend!

ALSO, BONUS POINTS for anyone who knows where Moira, the housekeeper, is from!


	7. Missing Scene: The Cheesecake Factory

**A/N:**

**Just a little back story on Howl and Korra's relationship.**

* * *

Korra wiped the sweat from her forehead.

The walk back to her house from the house that she babysat at wasn't a long walk by any means, but it was still miserable under the hot sun. Korra would give anything for her car's working air conditioning right now. But gas was too expensive to waste on a drive that could be easily walked.

As she crested the hill that lead to her house, she spotted someone that she did _not_ want to see.

Howl, in her driveway.

She paused in the middle of the road, debating the merits of turning around and heading back to where she had come from.

Instead, she sighed and started forward again. Her shoulders drooped in reluctance. Howl was the _last_ person that she wanted to talk to right now.

When she finally walked onto her driveway, she fixed him with her most heated glare. "What do _you _want?"

He had the decency to look a little ashamed of himself. "Korra, I think that you and I need to—"

"_We_ don't need to do anything!" Korra turned her back to him and began to walk toward her front door.

Howl grabbed her shoulder and whirled her back around. "Listen to me." She could see the desperation in his cobalt gaze. "I'm trying to apologize—"

"You _dumped me_!" Korra shrieked out of the blue. "In the Cheesecake Factory! You dumped me in the Cheesecake Factory before we had even ordered cheesecake! Who the hell _does that_?!"

"I admit that it wasn't—"

"And you didn't even give me a good reason," Korra continued, waving her hands around for emphasis. "You couldn't even be honest with me about _why_."

Howl let his hand drop from her shoulder. He looked down at the ground, unable to meet her gaze. "I didn't want to hurt you," he admitted softly.

"Yeah, well, you did," Korra snapped. She started to fish into her pocket, determined to find her house key, when long fingers encircled her wrist.

"I was an ass." Korra snorted at this. "But…the truth was…I was scared. I had already been at college for a full semester, and all I could think about was my girlfriend. You," he clarified. "I've never felt that way before and—and it _terrified_ me because I wasn't sure if you felt the same and you were too _good_ for me. Still are."

Korra let out a long breath, allowing Howl to keep her wrist in his gentle grip. "You're an idiot."

"I know."

"I shouldn't even think about forgiving you."

"I know."

She cast him a sad, bitter look. "But, it doesn't matter."

His face fell. "Why?"

Korra tugged her wrist away and cradled it against her chest. "I'm moving."

All the blood drained out of Howl's face. "What? When? _Where?_"

Korra bit her lip and turned her head away. "At the end of the summer, a couple of hours away."

Howl swallowed thickly before turning his back to her, his fist curled at his sides. All the muscles in his back and shoulders were tense, and Korra would bet anything that if they had been inside then he probably would've punched a hole through a wall.

"Were you not going to tell me?" he finally asked, voice low.

She felt herself bristle a little bit at his accusatory tone. "Um, we haven't exactly been speaking as of late," she pointed out. "You've been working, I've been babysitting, and you _dumped me_ at the Cheesecake Factory, remember?"

Shaking his head, Howl turned back around and faced her. "So, I guess I'm too late, huh?"

Korra crossed her arms over her chest and shrank back a bit, suddenly feeling very small. "I'm sorry, Howl. My dad got a new job and—"

"It's not your fault," he said quickly, stepping up to her. "I was the stupid one here, not you. Okay?"

Korra nodded. A moment later she was enveloped in a hug.

"We'll still be friends though, right?" Howl asked quietly.

Korra nodded, her cheek brushing against his shoulder. "Always."

* * *

**A/N: #2:**

**Well, that gave me more feels then I intended it to. I kind of wish more of you had voted for Howl back when he was in the running, not going to lie.**

**Ah well.**

**Votes left on this chapter will not count, obviously. I hope you all enjoyed this! Hopefully the next chapter will bring you more clarity about these two. :)**


	8. six

**A/N:**

Yay, an update!

A love interest was eliminated in this chapter. Read on to find out who!

* * *

It was like Korra's feet were frozen to the ground. She could feel her eyes about to bulge out of her head. "Howl?" she gasped, shocked. "What are you doing here?"

The older boy visibly swallowed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Hey, Korra. Your mom said that you'd be here."

Iroh stepped up to Korra's side and looked down at his employee. "Who the hell is this?"

Korra sighed and rolled her fingertips against her temples. She was not in the mood for this kind of drama. "It's okay, Iroh. This is Howl. He's…my ex-boyfriend."

Iroh quirked a perfectly sculpted eyebrow and gave Howl a scrutinizing look. "Is that so?"

Howl drew himself up to his full height and squared his shoulders. "Yeah. It's so."

Iroh looked like he was about to say something, something aggressive, when Korra walked forward and unlocked her car door.

Howl placed a hand on her shoulder. "Wait, Korra, I was hoping that we could talk—"

Korra opened her car door and took a step to the side, jerking her shoulder out of Howl's grip. "Can we do it tomorrow? I just got off work, it's late, and I have school in the morning."

"But, your parents—"

"Are too nosy for their own good. Goodnight, Howl." She hopped into her car and caught sight of Iroh's concerned face behind Howl. She gave him a faint smile. "Goodnight, Iroh. See you in a couple of days."

And then she slammed her car door shut, turned on the engine, and quickly drove out of the tea shop's parking lot.

* * *

"This is such bullshit." Korra glared down at her phone, which had not stopped ringing as soon as she'd gotten out of school.

She was at Asami's house and both girls were sitting at Asami's vast kitchen table with their chemistry textbooks strewn out in front of them. They were supposed to be studying; in reality they were doodling on blank sheets of paper and gossiping about Korra's complicated love life.

"Why don't you just pick up the phone and tell him that you don't want to talk?" Asami pointed out logically. In her hand she had a pink pen with fluffy stuff sprouting out of the top. There were intricately drawn zombies covering her doodle sheets. Korra hadn't had the opportunity to tell Asami how impressive she found them.

Korra winced and then sighed, letting her pencil clatter onto the top of the table. "I don't want to hurt his feelings," she admitted. "Howl is a good guy, but we broke up awhile ago. Besides, I'm not really looking for a long distance relationship." For some reason, that particular admission made her feel bad. Love could go across distances, and all that. But Korra wasn't in love with Howl. At least, not anymore.

"I think you should be honest with him," Asami advised. The raven haired girl pulled out a pack of colored pencils and began to color in the rotting flesh of her zombies. "That's what I would do."

Korra picked back up her pencil and twirled in around in her fingers. "Yeah, but I really don't want to hurt him. He's come all the way out here and everything. I just… Well, you know how having ex-boyfriends can be. You'll always care about them, even when they're dicks."

Asami shrugged one shoulder casually. "Actually, I wouldn't know. I've only had one boyfriend, and that was back in freshman year."

Korra outright laughed. "You're joking."

Asami put down her Military Green colored pencil and looked Korra right in the eye. "It's true. I've only ever had one boyfriend."

"But-but you're so gorgeous! And flirty and awesome! How could you not have had more boyfriends in your lifetime?!"

Asami bit her bottom lip nervously. Korra watched as the other girl sucked in a deep, nervous breath. It was like she was about to come out with something.

"Well," Asami began, "if I had wanted more boyfriends then maybe I would have had more boyfriends."

Korra furrowed her eyebrows, confused. "You don't want a boyfriend?"

Asami shook her head. "No."

"Oh."

"I want a girlfriend."

"_Oh._"

Asami ducked her head, long hair spilling past her slender shoulder and partially blocking her face. "It took a long time to for me to come to terms with…myself, and they way I feel toward things. People, I mean. But, yeah. I like girls."

Korra blinked at Asami a couple of times. Finding out that Asami was a lesbian was actually not at all surprising. In fact, Korra couldn't believe she hadn't picked up on it sooner.

"I have to admit," Asami said, a pretty blushing blooming across her cheeks, "I totally had a crush on you when I first met you."

"You did?" A warm feeling pooled in Korra's chest—flattery.

Asami nodded. "Uh huh. But it was pretty obvious that you weren't into me like that, which is totally cool." She goes back to coloring in her zombies.

Korra smiled. "Yep. Penis is more my forte."

Asami giggled and then made a face. "Let me know how that works out for you."

At that precise moment, Howl called again for the umpteenth time.

"I'm shutting it off," Korra growled, and after she did the resulting silence was almost deafening.

Korra shifted her blue eyes back over to her friend. Asami's tongue was barely sticking out between her lips and her head was dipping closer and closer to her zombie doodles.

Korra drummed her fingers against the table top and worked up her nerve. "Asami?"

The other girl tilted her head up curiously. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted you to know that…you're the best friend I have here. So, thanks."

Asami's cheeks turned a deep shade of red, but she still gave Korra an appreciate smile. "You're welcome."

* * *

"This was a bad idea."

"_Is that not what I told you twenty minutes ago?"_

Korra pulled her car into the parking lot in front of the coffee shop that Tahno worked at. "Curiosity got the best of me, okay?"

"_Well then it's a good thing you aren't a cat."_

"Haha."

It was Thursday, practice had been cancelled because one of Tenzin's kids was sick, and Korra had nothing else to do.

"_You could've just come over, you know."_

"Yeah, I know. But, uh, this will give me the chance to spy on Tahno a little bit."

"_That's the dumbest excuse I've ever heard. Admit it, you're attracted to him."_

Korra puts her car in park. "Asami, you're deranged. I'm just curious, like I said."

"_You're an idiot. I have to go. My dad is giving me a funny look."_

"Okay, bye."

Korra tucked her phone into her pocket and climbed out of her car. The shop was dead, although it was mid-afternoon. She couldn't think of anyone who'd want to get coffee_ now_.

The door let out a little chime as she walked into the shop. Tahno was standing behind the counter, looking bored. But as soon as he saw her his face lit up.

"You came."

Korra made her way to the front of the store and crossed her arms underneath her breasts. "That's what she said."

Tahno's smile turned into a full blown grin. "That's my girl."

Korra leaned her hip against the counter. "You said that if I came by then I wouldn't regret it. So, impress me." She quirked an eyebrow at him.

An hour later Korra could not stop giggling. First, Tahno had made her drink espresso, which Korra didn't think would have any kind of effect on her. Korra was wrong.

Then Tahno had managed to get her to eat a couple of the pastries sitting out on display.

"Come on, sweetheart," he had said. "I know you want some. You're not the kind of girl who gives much of a shit about what she puts in her mouth."

Korra had shoved his shoulder playfully. "Why does everything that comes out of your mouth sound so dirty?"

He had laughed at her then, and Korra had felt her heartbeat flutter a little at the handsome expression on his face. "I can't help it if you're mind is in the gutter, sweetheart."

Now Korra was munching on a bear-claw and listening to Tahno tell her about the last football game that he and his team had played.

"We won, of course." Tahno said, bright eyes never leaving Korra's face. "But one of my idiot receivers dropped one of my passes with only one minute left in the game and we were close to scoring."

Korra shook her head, wiping crumbs off of her chin. "I never drop the ball."

"I know you don't. I watch all of your games."

Korra snorted. "Yeah, to spy."

Tahno's face softened. "Not really."

Korra chuckled, belly full of stupid, annoying butterflies. "I mean, it's not like you show up to watch just _me_, or anything."

She was answered with silence. Long, drawn out silence.

When she couldn't take the (sexual) tension anymore, she reached out and grabbed a can of whipped cream that Tahno had left sitting out. She then proceeded to point the bottle at his face and squirt whipped cream onto his cheek.

He brutally retaliated.

She squealed as he made to grab at the whipped cream can in her hand and let out a shriek of laughter when he wrapped a strong arm around her waist and pulled her flush against his body.

"No!" she shouted, laughing as Tahno pried the can from her fingers and sprayed whipped cream all over her lips. And then both teenagers froze and Korra found her hands pressed up against Tahno's chest.

There was a moment of hesitation, and then Tahno kissed her. And Korra, to her immense surprise, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed back.

She felt her heartbeat turn erratic. Tahno's hands slipped down her lower back and she could feel heat spreading through her body at his touch. It was making her knees wobbly. She felt his tongue flick across her bottom lip, collecting the whipped cream that was smeared there.

Korra and Tahno were both so distracted with each other that neither noticed the chime coming front the door.

"Gee, Tahno, your manager must let you get away with murder."

Startled, Korra accidentally bit Tahno's upper lip and the boy pulled away from her, wincing.

"Sorry," she gasped, breathless, but he had already turned his head away from her and was glaring at the customer.

Korra gulped and turned her head to the side, too.

The customer was Mako.

She should've known by now that the universe hated her.

The golden eyed boy was seething, and from the way that he refused to catch her eye Korra could bet that he was not happy with her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, voice sounding more venomous then she meant it to.

"Practice was cancelled, and I had to run some errands in this part of town. So I figured I'd get a coffee, since Tahno owed me one." His mouth curled down into a scowl. "My eye still hurts."

Tahno, who looked extremely irritated, shrugged one shoulder. "You can get whatever you want. And then you can get the fuck out."

Korra quickly wiped the remaining whipped cream on her face off with the back of her hand. "Come on, guys—"

Mako looked at her for the first time. "Shut _up_, Korra."

Tahno's face darkened. "Hey, don't talk to her—"

"What are you even _doing_ here?" Mako asked, cutting off Tahno.

Korra sniffed and propped her hand on her hip, going into the defensive. "We were just hanging out."

Mako scoffed. "More like making out."

"What's it matter to you, anyway? Do you like me or something?" Korra accused. She regretted her words as soon as she saw the way Mako's gaze flick away from her in hurt. "Mako…"

"Whatever, Korra. Do whatever the fuck you want. To hell with everyone else, right?"

"Mako, wait—"

The other boy turned around and stormed out of the coffee ship

Korra sprinted around the counter and into the store. She cast Tahno an apologetic look over her shoulder. He smirked. "Go on, sweetheart." But she could see the tension in his jaw. "I'll see you some other time."

Korra opened her mouth to apologize, but she could already hear Mako starting his car. She bolted out of the shop.

His car was just starting to move backward when Korra wrapped her hands around his rear-view mirror, effectively stopping him.

Mako rolled down his window and gave her a menacing look. "What?"

"I'm…I'm sorry." Although she had no idea what she was sorry for, really. Korra just knew that her heart was aching right now, and she wasn't sure why.

Mako was gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were turning white. "Tahno isn't a nice guy."

Korra bristled at that. "You don't even know him."

"I've lived in this town a lot longer then you have. I know him better then you think. He's the definition of an asshole."

Korra frowned, remembering the pleasant afternoon she'd just spent with Tahno. He didn't seem like the kind of guy Mako was describing.

Maybe it was a rival quarterback thing.

Mako sighed and looked up at her, golden eyes searing. "Korra…I just. I don't want to see you get hurt. Ever." He swallowed, and Korra wasn't sure she'd seen him be so vulnerable before.

"Mako—"

"I have to go. Can you please take your hands off my car?"

Korra released the rear-view mirror and Mako drove off. She frowned, and got in her own car, mind muddled with confused thoughts.

* * *

That evening, Korra was eating noodles in her bedroom and telling Naga about her day when Howl suddenly burst into her room.

"We're not getting back together," she said around a mouthful of noodles.

Howl's shoulders slumped a little bit. "But, Korra—"

Korra moaned and swallowed her food. "Don't get me wrong, our time together was fun. A _lot_ of fun. But…" She sighed and placed her noodles on top of her desk. "It's over. You're at college a few hours away, and I'm…I'm here. And I like it here. And I like the people here." She frowned down at her carpeted floor. "I don't know if I'm ready for a serious, long distance relationship."

Howl gingerly set down at the edge of her bed. "I just wish that I hadn't broken up with you the first time around."

Korra shot him a small, but sincere, smile. "Yeah, well, shit happens. Life goes on." She reached out and placed a hand on top of his knee. "I hope that we can still be friends…?"

Howl nodded slowly, absorbed in his own thoughts.

At that moment Korra's bedroom door swung open. Korra's mother looked a little put out. "Korra, sweetie, there's a boy here to see you."

Both Korra and Howl stood up and sprinted out of Korra's bedroom and down the stairs.

And there stood Mako at the front door, looking very uncomfortable.

He scowled when he saw Howl, but before he could say anything Korra quickly ushered him out of the house and onto the front porch. She closed the front door behind her in order to keep uninvited ears from overhearing their conversation.

"Mako," she began, crossing her arms over her chest, "what are you doing here?"

The quarterback gulped, obviously nervous. "Who was that guy in there?" he asked, ignoring Korra's question.

"Oh, that's Howl. He's my ex."

Mako's golden eyes narrowed a little. "He's too old for you, don't you think?"

Korra let out a tittering laugh. "If you think that then maybe I shouldn't introduce you to Iroh."

"Who's Iroh?"

Korra coughed, clearing her throat. "Don't worry about it."

Mako drummed his fingers along the porch railing, suddenly too apprehensive to look Korra in the eye. This wasn't like him. Usually he was much more annoyingly straightforward then this. However, Korra decided that maybe it was in her best interest to let him speak first.

So she waited. And waited.

And there was still silence.

Finally Mako took a step forward. Then two steps back. "Um—"

Unfortunately, Korra wasn't a very patient person, and she'd already used up her patience quota that evening. "Spit it out, already."

Instead of spitting it out, Mako smashed his mouth against hers.

It was definitely one of the more spontaneous kisses that Korra had ever received. And she found herself kissing him back.

But just like that Mako was yanking himself away. He stared at her for a long moment before mumbling an apology and high-tailing it to his car, leaving Korra to gape after him in bewilderment.

_Why_ were boys so stupid?!

* * *

It was Friday night. Korra's next football game wasn't until tomorrow, so tonight she was working at the teashop.

And the teashop was dead.

She was half heartedly wiping down a table with a wet cloth when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She glanced up to see Iroh staring down at her with a worried expression.

"You okay?"

Korra sighed. "I'm fine. I'm just having some…troubles."

Iroh nodded, not pushing anything. "Well, considering that we have a grand total of two customers right now, why don't you take a seat? I'll bring you some tea. And, uh, that's an order. As your manager."

Korra laughed and slumped down into the booth. She twiddled her thumbs for a few minutes until Iroh slid into the seat across from her with two teacups and a teapot.

"I made the tea for myself ten minutes ago, but I think you could use some as well."

Korra watched as Iroh poured them both tea, and then she wrapped her fingers around her teacup, letting her skin soak in its warmth.

"So…" Iroh started awkwardly. "What's up?"

"Just boy bullshit."

Iroh smiled. "Ah."

Korra took a moment to look at him, really look at him. He was so handsome that it was stupid. And he _wasn't _too old for her, no matter what anyone else thought or said.

Iroh took a sip of his tea. "I hated dating in high school. There was always too much drama. It gets better when you're in college."

"Why? 'Cause there's no strings attached?"

Iroh's cheeks pinked a little. "Er, sometimes. Well, most of the time, but it's a lot easier to meet people who are more into what you're into. Plus, college students tend to be more mature then high school students."

Korra bit her bottom lip and watched the way Iroh's amber eyes locked onto her mouth. "Really? I wouldn't know."

Iroh tore his gaze away from her and sucked in a deep breath. "Korra—" And then his face split into a wide grin. "Grandpa?"

"Hmm, I smell tea."

Iroh leaped out of the booth. Korra turned her head to see her manager embracing an old man with a wrinkled scar stretched across the side of his face.

* * *

**A/N:**

The love interest eliminated in this chapter was **Asami**. Girlfriend had a great run! I have to admit, was pleasantly surprised that she made it this far. **A note about Asami:** Asami is gay in this story. 100% into ladies. So please don't ask me to stick her with one of the other eliminated love interests, because it isn't going to happen. This is the way that I've interpreted her character and I'm going to stick to my guns. :)

**A Few Simple Voting Rules**

— **Anonymous votes will not be accepted. **I cannot stress this enough! No anonymous votes! I still got a bunch of anonymous votes for the last chapter. Once again, if you vote anonymously then your vote will not be accepted! Guys, it literally takes seconds to log in, and only minutes to create an account! I don't want to see anyone's vote get overlooked because of this!

—You can only vote for one person. If you're indecisive like me, then I do apologize.

—If for whatever reason you would like to keep your vote private, you may message me your vote and I'll count it. Please only message me with your vote either on this site or tumblr.

A reminder of Korra's love interests:

Mako

Tahno

Iroh

**IMPORTANT: **I am participating in National Novel Writing Month this year, so there will be **no updates throughout the month of November** for any of my stories. But I will be back in December and it shall be awesome! So you have a solid month and a half to vote; choose wisely! We're getting down to the wire.

I will update this story with a fun missing scene sometime in the next week or so. :)

VOTE!


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